The present invention relates to a polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabric wherein polyurethane elastic fiber filaments are mutually fused and bonded and the production thereof, and a synthetic leather using the polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabric and, more particularly, to a polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabric having excellent stretchability and high tear strength and the production thereof, and a synthetic leather using the polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabric.
Among polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabrics made of polyurethane elastic fiber filaments, a polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabric produced by a so-called xe2x80x9cmelt-blow spinning methodxe2x80x9d has hitherto been used in the fields where comparatively good conformability to the movement of human body is required (for example, the side band of a paper diaper, a base fabric of an emergency adhesive plaster, a disposable glove, etc.) or the fields where comparatively short stretchability is required (outerwear fields, for example, sports clothes, stretchable cotton pads, etc.) because of excellent stretchability, flexibility and permeability.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-293117 discloses that a synthetic leather having excellent stretchability is obtained by using this kind of a polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabric as a base material for synthetic leather, and also suggests the use of such a synthetic leather as materials of shoes, bags, pouches, furniture, interiors, car sheets, and clothes.
However, since such a polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabric has excellent stretchability and flexibility, as described above, but generally has a low tear strength, a sufficient tear strength as one of the important basic physical properties of the synthetic leather cannot be attained when used as a base material of the synthetic leather. Depending on the purposes of the synthetic leather, products suitable for practical use cannot be obtained.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabric having both excellent stretchability and high tear strength and the production thereof, and a synthetic leather using the polyurethane elastic fiber nonwoven fabric.